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Non-believers say proposed Florida amendment is backdoor to religion in government

The Secular Coalition for America is conducting a phone meeting to create a Florida chapter to fight legislation it believes weakens the separation of religion and government.

1 p.m., Tuesday, June 26

Call (530) 881-1400.

Participant access code is 978895.

Liz Murad, once a Franciscan nun, says she no longer believes in God but does believe in the U.S. Constitution. And she worries that attempts to change Florida laws will violate the U.S. political principle that separates church from state.

Murad,73, of Fort Pierce, belongs to Humanists of the Treasure Coast, an organization of nonbelievers that opposes Amendment 8 to the Florida constitution, which will be on the ballot in November.

Proponents of the amendment say it simply protects the equal rights of people who profess belief in God. But Murad strongly disagrees, saying she is particularly concerned about tax money going to religious institutions.

“It’s called the Religious Freedom Amendment but it isn’t about religious freedom at all,” she says. “This is eating away at our constitutional protections. I want people to read the whole amendment so that they know what could happen.”

Murad says she will join forces with a group called the Secular Coalition for America, a nationwide organization that is staging a recruitment drive Tuesday to form a Florida chapter.

Kelly Damerow, formerly of Boca Raton, is the coordinator of state chapters for the group. She says the Coalition will target the amendment.

“Amendment 8 would permit the use of public funds for religious organizations, which would hurt the secular character of the Florida government,” she says.

Section 3 of the Florida constitution states:

“There shall be no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting or penalizing the free exercise thereof. Religious freedom shall not justify practices inconsistent with public morals, peace, or safety. No revenue of the state or any political subdivision or agency thereof shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution.”

Amendment 8 would strike the last sentence and replace it with this: “No individual or entity may be discriminated against or barred from receiving funding on the basis of religious identity or belief.”

Murad sees one key reason proponents want the amendment passed: It will allow tax money to go to religious schools. The statewide teachers union, other groups of educators, some religious congregations and civil rights groups also oppose the measure.

“It will take money away from our public school budgets,” Murad says. “That’s a horrible thing to do to our public schools.” She also sees it as the first stage of an effort by religious institutions to gain greater say in public affairs.

But state Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, sponsor of the amendment in the House, says people who oppose removing the old language in the constitution are overreacting. He says the last sentence of Section 3 was added during the late 1800s and was the result of anti-Catholic prejudice at a time of large Catholic immigration to the U.S.

“The language in our state constitution goes beyond the language of our federal constitution and is discriminatory language,” Plakon says. “And if you look at states that don’t have that discriminatory language in their constitutions they haven’t had any problems with the issue of separation of church and state.”

He accuses opponents of the amendment of “drumming up fear” of religious institutions.

A group called Citizens for Religious Freedom and Non-Discrimination, headed by state Rep. Juan Zapata, R-Miami, has formed to help pass the amendment.

“Religious organizations and individuals have an equal and rightful place in the public square and should not have their freedom to participate there limited simply because they are religious,” the group says on its website. “Amendment 8 ensures religious organizations and individuals the right to provide services for the common good.”

But Murad and the other nonbelievers disagree and say they represent an increasing number of Floridians. A study done this year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life says that 72 percent of Floridians have an absolute belief in God, leaving 28 percent who don’t. The same study reported that 57 percent of Floridians say religion is very important in their life, leaving 43 percent who feel differently.

Joe Beck of Stuart, president of the Humanist of the Treasure Coast, is a member of what he says is a growing minority.

“Amendment 8 should be called the ‘Give Money to Religion Amendment’ ”he says. “It means taking money from everybody and giving it to select sectarian groups. And government will have to choose which religions get the most money. Will the smallest get the money or the most powerful? What do you think?”

The nonbelievers, both national and local, say they are going to be more visible and vocal during the coming campaign season and publicize other issues. For one, they want to see the repeal of a Florida law passed last year that allows students to deliver “inspirational messages” at public events. They say the law is a ploy to allow prayer in schools.

Beck is also trying to get Florida hospitals and hospices to recognize that many people are “nontheists” and that individuals should be made available who can give comfort to those who don’t believe just as chaplains are there for believers. He says persons who offer such comfort to nonbelievers are called “humanist celebrants” and he is one.

Phil Katrovitz, 80, of Vero Beach, is a nonbeliever who spent over 10 years in the Navy and time as a patient at Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Riviera Beach. He also has done volunteer work in the Vero Beach area, helping veterans stop drinking by using humanist rather than the faith-based counseling.

“It really disturbs me when ministers come in and want to pray over me,” he says. “When Joe Beck came it really comforted me. It is really good to talk to a like-minded person. And I’ve met a lot of veterans who are nonbelievers. The idea that there are no atheists in foxholes is a total lie. There are lots of nonbelievers who have served this country.”

Beck says most Florida hospitals have so far refused to list nonreligious comfort-givers as they do chaplains. But he recently received word from the VA Hospital that a new passage is being added to the patients’ handbook in the section on chaplains.

“For our nonreligious patients and family members, support is available from other sources including from a secular humanist perspective,” the passage now reads. The VA pledges to help nonbelievers find “like-minded” comfort givers.

Beck calls it a step in the right direction, but believes a parallel structure equal to the chaplaincy service should be set up for nonbelievers in hospitals and hospices, since nonbelievers make up a percentage as high or higher than many individual religious denominations.

He says he would like to see that someday and even sooner, in November, he’d like to see the defeat of Amendment 8.